Disk drive head suspensions are well know and commercially available. Suspensions of these types typically include an integrated lead flexure that is welded or otherwise attached to a load beam, and are disclosed, for example, in the following U.S. patents.
Inventor NamePat. No.Jurgenson5,959,807Coon6,266,212Girard6,515,832Peltoma et al.7,384,531Bjorstrom et al.7,469,464Panchal et al.7,518,830Rice et al.7,813,082
The integrated lead flexures are formed from overlaying layers of material including a stainless steel or other spring metal base layer, a layer of copper alloy or other conductive material, and a layer of insulating dielectric material that separates the base and conductive material layers. These devices typically include a base region and a distal gimbal region. The gimbal region includes a pair of transversely spaced spring arms in the base layer that support a head slider mounting region. Traces or leads formed in the conductive material layer extend along the length of the flexure and terminate at the gimbal region. Portions of the traces, sometimes known as flying leads, extend off the spring arms at the gimbal region to reduce the mechanical stiffness of that portion of the gimbal.
There remains a continuing need for improved integrated lead flexures. In particular, there is a need for integrated lead flexures with enhanced resonance and other mechanical specifications.